Best carport

2200 block of North Cleveland

Architect Jeanne Gang designed this before she designed the 82-story Aqua tower and became world-famous. Her challenge was to shelter her Lincoln Park clients' wheels but leave her firm's backyard open to the alley, a community gathering place. Her solution was polyester in tension. The fabric arrived in a laundry bag and neighbors pitched in to rig it. Gang's a pal of the new mayor, and when his limo pulls in perhaps he'll appreciate her winglike design for what it is—a symbol of openness, imagination, and common cause. —Michael Miner